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self esteem
You believe you possess more talent than the average.
The better-than-average effect is a widespread cognitive bias where individuals rate their abilities as superior to their peers.
In a classic study, 88% of American drivers rated their driving skills as above the median. Because the median cannot logically be exceeded by 88% of a population, it confirms a pervasive inflation of self-assessment.
You measure your competence against a version of your peers you’ve minimized.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Ola Svenson, 1981, Acta Psychologica
- What the check found
- The figure and attribution are accurate to Svenson's 1981 research. The effect is widely replicated across various domains of ability, though the magnitude fluctuates depending on task difficulty.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.